I haven’t read much on archaeology although I’ve had an interest ever since high school. Maybe the influence of Indiana Jones was the driving force, but of course the reality of the science is different and I wanted to learn some more about it.
This book provided a pretty good layman’s view of four cities that were exceptional in their time, that rose and then for various reasons fell and faded away. It is written with a sort of millennial generation style so that it is pretty easy to get into.
While reading this book I was struck by just how much guesswork is involved in digging up a lost civilization. There is only so much that lidar and magnetometers can tell you before you have to use your imagination and see the lost scenes that are around you. The author is skilled at this, and helps to bring these cities alive for the reader. On the other hand, of course these are educated guesses, and the author points out that they could certainly be off the mark.
One of the more modern schools of thought in contemporary archaeology (at least according to this book) is the idea of studying the activities of the “regular people”. Previously investigations tended to focus on things that were unusual, big or dramatic. Instead in this book they focused on finding how most people lived, and reading about how they sussed out these things was really interesting.
I enjoyed this book and learned a lot – which is a great combination when reading new books. I get the sense that this book might not be as dry as other books in the field, so if the topic holds an interest for you this is a good first step.
Next I’m reading Gateway by Frederik Pohl.
